The Paralympics are currently taking place in Beijing and will be ongoing until March 13. The Paralympic participants are athletes with some form of intellectual or physical abilities. Most of the Paralympic events are usually split into three classes, vision impaired, standing and sitting. 

Out of the 33 events in the Paralympics, 21 of them are the same/equivalent to the Olympic events. Team USA is currently in 7th place overall, with two gold medals and 13 total medals. 

Oksana Masters won USA’s first medal during the Para Biathlon (short distance sprint, sitting). Masters has congenital limb deficiencies which lead to her having both of her legs amputated. Despite her challenges, Masters finished the event with USA’s first gold.

Kendall Gretsch won USA’s second gold medal in the Women’s Para Biathlon (long distance, sitting). Gretsch was born with spina bifida causing her leg muscles to be underdeveloped, leaving her with extremely limited use of her legs. Gretsch also won a bronze medal for USA alongside Masters in the Para Biathlon sprint. She has been competing in triathlons and biathlons since 2012, and this is her first time competing at the Paralympics.

The US currently has five silver medals, three being in Para Cross Country Skiing. Jake Adicoff won the first silver in the Men’s Long Distance Vision Impaired. Adicoff has no vision in his right eye and very little in his left (a result of his mother having chicken pox while pregnant with him). He has been skiing since 2002 and made his debut in the Paralympics during the 2014 Winter games in Sochi. The second alpine skiing medal was won by Oksana Masters who also received a gold in the Para Biathlon. 

The third alpine skiing medal was won by Sydney Peterson. Peterson competed in both the Para Biathlon and the Para Cross Country Skiing (long distance, standing) events. Peterson has dystonia, which limits the use of her arms and her left leg. Peterson is still able to stand and skis with only one pole, and a brace to help position her leg. 

USA’s Mike Schultz was the first team member to win a medal in the Para Snowboarding events. Schultz lost his leg in 2008 when he was in a snow cross race and his snowmobile flipped. He competed in the men’s Snowboard Cross in the SB-LL1 class. The SB-LL1 class is for snowboarders who have moderately affected movement/range of motion in their legs or knees and have affected balance as a result. Schultz won a silver medal and plans to compete again in the next games. 

Garrett Geros won silver for USA in the men’s Snowboard Cross in the SB-LL2 class. This class is for snowboarders with a small degree of impairment when it comes to coordination as well as affected movement in one or both legs. Geros lost his left leg and had his right leg plated in 2018 following injuries sustained in a car crash. 

Brenna Huckaby won USA’s 8th and most recent medal (bronze). Huckaby competed in the Women’s Snowboard Cross, also in the SB-LL2 class. Huckaby was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in 2009, and had her right leg amputated in 2010. Huckaby is now cancer free and plans to compete in the next games as well. 

Both China and Canada have won golds in the Para Snowboarding events for the first time in history, while Finland’s Matti Suur-Hamari also defended his gold from the last games. China is currently in first place with 10 golds and 31 medals overall. They are followed by Ukraine with 19 medals overall, six being gold. Tune in to watch team USA compete during this final stretch of the 2022 Paralympics.